Review: Non-Bio – 'The Future Is Written'

NON-BIO 

'The Future Is Written'
SELF-RELEASED 

South-London based experimental industrial act Non-Bio return with their latest full-length studio album 'The Future Is Written'. Known for blending electronic, powernoise, ambient and industrial elements the band have crafted an intriguing and sometimes confrontational back catalogue.

'The Future Is Written' sees Non-Bio continue to refine their sound and push the boundaries of experimental electronics by making their disjointed and unfriendly sound manipulations strangely appealing.

The album opens up with the slow rhythmic noise of 'The Servility Device', a minimal a disorientating track centred around a pulsing rhythm that throws you off balance from the start. However the dirty, glitchy old school sounds of 'You Reborn' harks back to the chaotic but defined appeal of early industrial sounds of acts like Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire and Skinny Puppy, and this is built on nicely by the unfriendly mechanical break-down of tracks like 'Facial Recognition', 'Distraction', 'Revenge Makes You Stronger', 'Overcome Anxiety', 'Dreamstate', 'We Own Your Memories' and End User Agreement' which despite their often noisy elements maintain a sense of rhythm and melody.

Though tracks such as 'Quit Smoking', 'Loose Weight', 'Believe', and 'Nourish' push these noise and experimental ideas into harsher and less user-friendly areas, and would definitely perhaps tip a casual listener over the edge there is still method in their madness and remain compelling listening.

The production is gritty and low-fi throughout. Distorted vocals, rhythms, samples and synth sometimes teeter on becoming a pure all of noise. But it doesn't. There is a minimalist feel to the band's compensations that doesn't overwhelm the tracks. It's chaotic yes, but Non-Bio are in full control at all times.

This is another solid album that blurs the lines between appeal and revulsion, the cerebral and the bestial. There are some solid rhythms and the odd hint of melody that shine out amongst the harsh din of noise, but it is in no way a commercial endeavour. Non-Bio are less “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep” and more “Do Terminators Have Nightmares About Their Victims?”. Hopefully there will be another full-length album to get stuck into before too long.

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Review: Non-Bio – 'Machine Cold Wash'

NON-BIO
'Machine Cold Wash'
SELF-RELEASED

London-based industrial multi-media act Non-Bio may have started out as a result of the members pursuits in making videos for other bands. But that shouldn't discount their musical ability in any way. The duo consisting of Howard Gardner and Karl Lloyd (X-KiN) have proven over the course of the handful of EPs and compilation appearances that they have the goods to make their low-fi and experimental take on electro-industrial quite appealing.

The likes of early Skinny Puppy, Sheep On Drugs and Aphex Twin are immediately identifiable in their sharp and disjointed tracks. There is always a clever sense of melody at play within the tracks and the steady paced beats hold things together and keep things accessible. But there is a trippy and disorientating adventurousness with the elements at work that gives their formula a pleasantly old school quality.

Tracks like 'Perfect', 'Medicinema', 'Brain Party' and 'I Am Your God Now' are shining examples of what the duo can do. They feel accessible enough to play well to a casual listener. But there is that ever present grit and sense that they may take things in an entirely different direction at the drop of a hat, which makes them a genuinely intriguing band to listen to.

The production is pretty gritty and noisy as you would probably expect from a band that blatantly likes to shake things up. But it's not one of those kind of albums that sounds like it was recorded on an ancient four-track in a concrete bunker. It does, for all its quirks and rough edges sound very well constructed and mixed.

Non-Bio are not what you would call a commercial project really. Despite some danceable beats and some very catchy melodies, they're very much on the “thinking-man's industrial” pile. It's not a bad thing though. It's nice to have some bands willing to try something new on every song rather than churning out more club-orientated 4/4 dance hits. It's going to be very interesting to hear just how far these to can push things on the next release.

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